Process for punching strip material



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PRocEss AND PUNCHING STRIP MATERIAL Filed June 26, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS THM Es vv. vcE

B30 HIV M WHEELER Patented Mayl, 1795i PROCESS FOR PUNCHING STRIP MATERIAL James W. Bryce, Glen Ridge, N. J., and John N.

Wheeler, Hawthorne', N. Y., assignors to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application September 9, 1946, Serial No.

698,032, now. Patent No. 2,521,338, dated September 5, 1950. Divided and this application June 26, 1948, Serial No. 35,386

`1 lClaim. (Cl. 164-125) l :This invention relates to processes Afor perforating resilient strip material. More particularly the subject invention concerns a method for operating upon strips of material such as polyvinyl complished by utilizing a characteristic inherent with some materials including polyvinyl butyral wherein a hole punched through Va strip of such material will result in having a non-uniform bore. It is an object of the present invention to demonstrate and describe a process by which perforations are made in resilient strips for containing pins to be yieldably` retained therein.

Another object of the present invention is to demonstrate and describe a process by which an improved storage medium may be prepared.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic View of the essential apparatus for punchingiholes into a strip vof material preparatory to forming an improved storage medium utilizing a polyvinyl butyral strip or the like.

Fig. 2 illustrates further'details of the process by which thestrip of material is prepared including the insertion of the metallic pins and the operating positions taken by a pinin the completed strip. Y

Fig. 3 illustrates a length of a strip of material representing a section of a pin belt wherein pins have been inserted by the process of the 2 l subject'invention showing some of the pins set in operating positions, and others restored to their neutral positions.

Fig.l 4' is a view of portions of a conventional butyral plastic and the like for producing 'holes .5 record tape (shown and described in theparent wherein metallic pins may .be inserted position-.- application) and asection of a pin belt'showing ablyy to form a record storage medium. Storage the respective arrangementsk of perforations vin devices of this type Vmay be utilized in mechathe former and set pins in the latter according nisms similar to that shown in a copending apto the standard Braille code.

plication Serial No. 698,032, iiled September 9, m Fig. 5v is an isometric View of a device (as 1946, now Patent No. 2,521,338, dated September shown inthe parent application) utilizing aV pin 5, 1950, of which this application is a division. belt prepared according to the subject invention In the application referred to above is disclosed for the purpose of presenting information in the a mechanism for enabling blind'persons to read form of Braille characters. (via knowledge of the well known Braille system)` 'l5 Due to the inherent property of materials such informationV presented upon an endless ilexible as polyvinyl butyral plastic when 'a hole is belt in the form of pins protruding `therefrom in punched into a strip of such material,V the result- Y recognizable character groups. In order to pro-l ant hole has convex sides with a minimum diamvide a minimum of interferencewith the sense' eter less than the diameter of the punch. This of feeling of one using the above mechanism, a 20 phenomenon is due to the Vtendency of some masmooth belt was developed havingthe quality of terials to cause a flow of material away from an retaining the pinsA yieldably in at least one of area where pressure is applied by an instrument two operating positions without the aid of ex- Such as a punch; however, because Aof Athe low traneous devices such as springs. This was ac- 25- modulus of elasticity normally found in such materials, there will be a limited flow until the punch pierces vthe material. When the punch is removed the material becomes partially Vrestored and the resultant reversed'flow Yo1 material produces an hour-glass shaped hole.

In this invention advantage is taken of the above phenomenon so that when a strip of such material ispunched, a .pin of uniform diameter, the same as the punch diameter, will be seized by the convexv side walls of the punched hole when the pin is inserted. By regulating ythe temperature at which the punching operationis performed, the effect noted above can be regulated so that a pin inserted in a punched hole in a strip of material having such properties will be gripped with any reasonably desired pressure, consequently the pin canbermoved to protrude from thestrip and returned to its original position again and again thus avoiding the necessity for providing springs to hold the pin in various positions with respect to the belt or strip in which itis inserted.

Fig. 1 illustrates a method by which a Strip of material may be prepared. A strip of `material |30, such as polyvinyl butyral plastic is advanced through a refrigerating Ypan |3| containingDry Ice 32 past a temperature indicating station |33 having a thermometer |34 (to indicate the critical temperature necessary to produce the desired degree of the effect previously described), thence to a punch |35 and die |36 to produce the hour-glass shaped holes |31. Consequently, as explained, and referring to Fig. 2, a hole |31 of hour-glass shape is produced by a punch of diameter D. The resultant hole is approximately of diameter D wherev the punch enters and leaves the surfaces of the strip of material; however, approximately at its center the hole has a smaller diameter d tapering toward both ends to the larger diameter D. A pin 25 of diameter Din- Serted into the hole will cause the material of the strip to be compressed around the pin (as indicated in the areas |38) to yieldably retain the pin 25 in one of several positions of the pins protruding as at X and Y.

A section of a pin belt 26, prepared in the manner described above, is shown in Fig. 3, together with a means whereby the protruding pins 25 can be restored to their normal positions. Pins shown protruding from the top of the belt 26 on the left side of the rollers |38 and |40 are passed between those rollers and pressed back into their normal positions as shown to the right of the rollers. Grooves may be cut in roller |48 to permit the pins 25 to be positioned normally so they protrude from the bottom of the belt 26 when they are not set. Each character group 21 shown in Fig. 3. may represent a coded character depending upon the combination formed by the protruding pins 25. The information thus represented can remain stored indefinitely in the strip until .the pins are .returned to their neutral positions by moving the belt 26 under the rollers |39 and |48. Additional perforations 85 may be made in the margins of the belt 26 to provide a suitable pin drive feed, such means being utilized in the parent application (referred to above).

Fig. 4 illustrates thev relation between a section of a pin belt 26. and a conventional paper tape 26 provided with coded perforations capable of' being sensed by .conventional electrical sensing means well established in the record card art. At position 86 inthe record tape 26 is indicated the positions, numbered one to six, where perforations may be made to represent character group designations and at position 8| in thelpin belt 26 is indicated the corresponding pin positions, numbered respectively, one to six,` where pins may be set to protrude to form standard Braille character group designations. At position 82 in the record tape 28 perforations c orresponding to the alphabetical character O have been made, while at position 83 inthe pin belt` 26 the corresponding pins have been set to protrude to permit one who is skilled in the reading of Braille to sense the alphabetical character O. `It is to be noted that the perforations 84 in the record tape 2|) are placed for purposes of advancing the record tape. Similarly, the perforations 8,5 in thev pin belt 26. are placedfor purposes of advancing the pin belt. It is to be noted further, in order to conserve space in the record tape, that while one column of perforations is required in the record tape 20 to represent the character 0, two columnsof pin protrusions are required in the pin belt 26v in order to conform to the standard Braille character group designation.

The mechanism for accomplishing the above mentioned recording of the vinformation is no part ofthe present invention, but is shown merely by way of illustrating one form of utility of a pin belt storage medium. In this connection, a mechanism shown in Fig. is utilized, the same being disclosed and claimed in the parent application hereinbefore referred to. Briefly therein a previously prepared record tape 28 is fed from a hopper 2| through a guide 22 to a sensing station 23 where information contained in the record tape 28 is sensed'and analyzed in a manner similar to that shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,378,371. Thereafter, the tape 28 is fed into a receiving hopper 2d. The sensed information is translated by the previously mentioned mechanism and caused to actuate pins 25 to protrude from a pin belt 26, as shown in Fig. 3. The pins 2,5 are arranged in a pin belt 26 (see Fig. 3) in character groups 21 of six pins each to correspond to standard Braille character groups. The pin belt 26 is caused to move in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 so that the fingers of the hand of a person skilled in reading Braille characters may sense the positions of the protruding pins 25 as they are presented and thereby receive the information previously set up in the prepared record tape 28. The record tape 28 and the pin belt 26 are synchronized while any character group is being set into the pin belt 26: however, after a character group of set pins 25 in the pin belt 26 progresses beyond the reading area 28, the pins 25 are reset to their neutral positions so that other new settings can be made representing other new information being received from the record tape 2D. The information presented by the pins is eifectively stored while a character group 21 in the belt 26 traverses the length of the reading area 28.

, While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel Lfeatures of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood lthat various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the apparatus illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

The method, of making a pin belt having movable pins adapted to be set in combinations which consists in subjecting a strip of homogeneous flexible material having properties for the material to iiow under pressure to a critical low temperature by which the rate of flow of material is controlled, feeding the strip between a die and punch of predetermined diameter, punching the strip,V permitting the strip of material to return to room temperature, and inserting a pin. ofv the predeterminedA diameter into each re- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,203,937 Barley June 11, V1940 FOREIGN PATENTS l Country Date Great Brita-in June 27, 1921 Number Gammeter Apr. 23, 1929 

